From: "Blanc" <blancw@cnw.com>
Date: Wed, 21 Oct 1998 09:56:08 +0800
To: <cypherpunks@cyberpass.net>
Subject: RE: My (Vince's) citizenship renunciation made difficult
In-Reply-To: <362CB592.B40A8AFF@east.sun.com>
Message-ID: <000101bdfc93$c6846780$218195cf@blanc>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



>From Eric S:

: 	Sometimes the best advice is to play the game, get what
: you want and let well enough alone.  The fact that they may choose to do
: nothing does not mean that bucking the United States of America is a good
idea.
: Follow the administrative procedures, leave your anger at home and if
: you want to change the way things are, work to be a good
: example of why libertarian values are morally correct.
..............................................


Eric, I appreciate your concern for my safety.  <g>  But if playing the game was
the right way to do things, the 'cypherpunks' would not exist, PGP would not
have been created or distributed, John Gilmore would not have constructed his
DES cracker, and Vince would not have left the country, or now be trying to
change citizenship.

I realize that Vince was looking for more practical advice than I offered; I
didn't really expect him to take those ideas seriously (and I suspect some of
these also crossed his mind).    Bucking the US govmt directly may not appear to
be the best idea, but it depends on one's circumstance:   a person should do
what they feel is possible and agreeable to them in dealing with nonsense,
whether it is filling out and signing forms of defection, or stocking up on guns
and bullets the way Tim May does.

In any case, being a good example of why libertarian values are morally correct
is not something I would ever do.   Individuals have a mind of their own, and I
expect them to use it, to decide for themselves which values they will support.
I feel no obligation to present demos, no vested interest in converting anyone
to any side of an issue.  I will argue for reason and facts and reality, but I
would leave an individual to face the consequences of their own choices.  What I
am motivated to do, is object to having to take the consequences of somebody
*else's* choices.

(And Soren:   integrity and morality are not incompatible; in fact, they
co-exist and where one is reduced, the other is also diminished).

    ..
Blanc